AMC Sends Water, Property Tax Notice To Taj Mahal, Warns The Monument Will Be Attached If Dues Not Paid In 15 Days
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been served a notice by the Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) over the 'unpaid' tax and water bills of the Taj Mahal.
According to officials of the ASI, a notice for water tax and one for property tax has been issued.
The ASI has been asked to pay property tax of around Rs 1.40 lakh and Rs 1 crore as water tax.
Pay dues within 15 days
"A notice for water tax and one for property tax has been issued. The property tax is around Rs 1.40 lakh and the water tax is around Rs 1 crore," ASI's Superintending Archaeologist (Agra circle) Raj Patel told ANI.
According to The Times Of India, the bills are for the financial year 2021-22 and 2022-23.
In the notice, the AMC has given the ASI 15 days to clear the outstanding dues failing which the Taj Mahal would be attached.
Tax not applicable on monuments??
This is the first time the protected monument, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been served a tax notice.
"Property tax is not applicable on monuments. We are also not liable to pay taxes for water as there is no commercial use of it. Water is used to maintain greenery within the premises. Notices related to water and property tax for Taj Mahal have been received for the first time. It could have been sent by mistake," Patel told The Times of India.
AMC blames private firm
The AMC said that a private company has been tasked to realise tax based on a GIS survey and the matter related to notices issued for water and property tax on the Taj Mahal is being investigated.
Taj Mahal, India's most visited monument
The Taj Mahal in Agra, which is also one of the world's seven wonders, was the most visited ticketed monument in the country this year.
An estimated 3.29 million domestic tourists visited the Taj Mahal in the financial year 2022.?
According to the data shared by the Union Ministry of Tourism, the Taj Mahal witnessed 3.29 million visitors or 12.65% of the total footfall in 2021-22 for domestic visitors, followed by Red Fort (1.32 million) and Qutub Minar (1.15 million).
The Taj Mahal, which Shah Jahan commissioned in 1631 as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, was also the second-most visited monument in India during the same period (0.038 million)
The ASI has restricted the number of visitors to the Taj Mahal to 40,000 per day.?
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